Prepaid services with security provisions to protect against unauthorized use

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for providing a telecommunication service is disclosed wherein a call associated with a first prepaid services account identifier is received from a user. An offer is provided to the user to initiate a replacement service for the first prepaid services account identifier and, upon receiving an indication of an acceptance of the offer from the user, a replacement codeword associated with the first prepaid services account identifier is established. The call associated with the first prepaid services account may be any type of communication, including a telephone call, a message delivered via the internet, or any other voice or data message. Upon receipt of the codeword from the user, a second prepaid services account identifier is established and, in one implementation, the first prepaid services account identifier is deactivated.

This application is a continuation of prior application Ser. No.10/899,478 filed Jul. 26, 2004, which issued on Nov. 18, 2008 as U.S.Pat. No. 7,453,999 which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/493,290 filed Aug. 6, 2003 and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/490,734, filed Jul. 29, 2003, all of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The provisioning of various services using prepaid accounts hasproliferated over the past decade in applications such as, for example,prepaid telephone services using prepaid cards. Such prepaid cards areusually sold through retail outlets and typically have imprintedinformation on the cards including an access telephone number and aprepaid services account identification number.

In accordance with one prior implementation of these services, thecustomer dials the access telephone number imprinted on the card and isthen prompted to input the prepaid services account identificationnumber as well as the telephone number the customer desires to call. Inthis implementation, the service platform determines if there is anavailable balance associated with the customer account, and if so, thecustomer is connected to the called number. The cost for the call isthen typically decremented from the account balance.

A significant problem associated with the retail sale of prepaidtelephone cards is related to the cash-like nature of such cards.Specifically, anyone who gains access to the prepaid services accountidentification number and the access telephone number can use theprepaid balance. Therefore, in order to prevent the unauthorized use ofsuch prepaid cards, various security measures have been devised. Forexample, a high level of security is required to prevent the theft ofaccount identification numbers and access telephone numbers by thoseinvolved in the manufacturing process of prepaid cards. Additionally,the sale of such cards at retail outlets initially required thatcheckout personnel hold the cards until they were sold in order toprevent customers from obtaining the critical numbers from cards thatare openly displayed. This was disadvantageous in that securelymaintaining the cards with checkout personnel, rather than offering themon an open display, very significantly limited sales and was therefore asignificant marketing concern.

Therefore, various security-related processes have been implemented inorder to permit open display of prepaid telephone cards whilemaintaining the security of critical information, such as the prepaidservices account identification number. For example, such criticalinformation can be covered with scratch-off material to prevent othersfrom copying the information from openly displayed cards. However, thisdoes not prevent the theft of cards from an open display and thesubsequent use of such stolen cards by the thieves. Therefore, in orderto address the concern of the theft of openly displayed cards, cards arefrequently not activated until they are actually purchased. In one suchactivation technique, typically performed at the point-of-sale ofprepaid cards, the card is attached to a hang-tag for display purposes,but has a bar code imprinted on it. When a customer desires to buy acard, that customer removes the card from the display and delivers it tothe personnel at the checkout counter. Upon receipt of payment, thecheckout person scans the bar code and the information is transmitted,usually in real-time, to a service platform. The card is then activatedby the service platform. Thereafter, the customer removes the scratchoff material to obtain the critical information (once again, forexample, the account identification number) and uses the prepaidtelephone service as described above. Thus, since the card is openlydisplayed it is accessible to retail customers while, at the same time,if the card is stolen from the display it can not by used because it hasnot been activated

However, a significant security problem remains in that, if the card ispurchased by a customer and is subsequently lost, anyone who finds thecard will have access to the critical information and may then be ableto use the balance remaining in the account. This lost card problem isrecognized by those in the industry as a significant hindrance to thesale of prepaid cards. Thus, various methods of solving the lost cardproblem have been devised. Specifically, in one prior attempt, a prepaidcard was provided with an identification code and a replacementidentification code with the replacement identification codeillustratively printed on a separate document from the prepaid card.Thus, if the card was lost, the consumer provided the replacement codeto the card issuer and the card issuer issued a new card to theconsumer. However, this attempt was still subject to the problem ofpotential theft or fraud by employees of the issuer of the phone cards.Therefore, in another prior attempt, the card was issued a security codeonly at time of activation—the prepaid cards were not shipped with asecurity code. However, this was still problematic in that the cardswere not replaceable. Thus, if the card was, lost, there was noprovision for recovering the lost balance remaining on the card.Additionally, even if some form of replacement service were provided (asdescribed in the attempt above), the consumer was still encumbered withan absolute requirement of choosing a security code.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aforementioned problems associated with prepaid services cards, suchas prepaid telephone services cards, have been essentially solved by thepresent invention. Specifically, the present inventors have invented amethod and apparatus for use with a prepaid services card issued to auser. As discussed above, such cards have, for example, a prepaidservices account identifier and a telephone access number to access aservices platform. In accordance with one embodiment of the principlesof the present invention, the user may elect (e.g., during activation ofthe prepaid services card) to initiate a replacement service that willreplace the initial prepaid services account identifier with a separateidentifier upon request by the user. A replacement service provider may,for example, charge a fee for this replacement service. Therefore, if auser does not wish to pay this fee, the user may elect not to initiatethe replacement service and, accordingly, may use the card without anoption to replace the account identifier in the event the card is lostor stolen. In another embodiment, a user calls a replacement serviceprovider when that user desires to replace the initial prepaid servicesaccount identifier (e.g., if the card is lost). This call mayillustratively be any type of communication, including a telephone call,a message delivered via the internet, or any other voice or datamessage. Upon receiving a codeword from the user, the replacementservice provider establishes a second prepaid services accountidentifier and provides it to the user. In another embodiment, the firstprepaid services account identifier is deactivated after the secondprepaid services account identifier. Finally, in yet another embodiment,the prepaid services account identifier may be activated for utilizingprepaid services even if the offer for replacement service is declinedby the user.

Finally, in yet a further embodiment, a call associated with a firstprepaid services account identifier is received from a user; an offer isprovided to the user to initiate a replacement service for the firstprepaid services account identifier; and, upon receiving an indicationof an acceptance of the offer from the user, a replacement codewordassociated with the first prepaid services account identifier isestablished. The call associated with the first prepaid services accountmay illustratively be any type of communication, including a telephonecall, a message delivered via the internet, or any other voice or datamessage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the steps of an illustrative method tooffer a prepaid card replacement service in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the steps of an illustrative method toutilize a prepaid card replacement service in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic of an illustrative prepaid card services systemin which a replacement service in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention may be implemented;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative record of a database associated with aprepaid card replacement system in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 5 shows the database record of FIG. 4 wherein the prepaid servicesaccount ID has been replaced by a replacement prepaid services accountID.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing one embodiment in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention wherein a user of a prepaid servicemay optionally establish a replacement codeword that allows that user torequest a replacement of the card and/or the prepaid services accountidentifier or number associated with the card. Referring to FIG. 1, atstep 101, a replacement service provider receives a call from the userwho has purchased (or otherwise obtained) a first prepaid accountidentifier, illustratively an account number on a prepaid telephoneservices card. In response to receiving this call, at step 102, thereplacement service provider provides an offer to initiate a replacementservice for the prepaid services account identifier associated with theprepaid service purchased by the user. Next, at step 103, adetermination is made whether or not the user accepts the offer of step103. If the user does not accept the offer, no replacement service isinitiated. If, however, the user does accept the offer of step 103, thereplacement service provider establishes at step 104 a replacementcodeword. As used herein, the term codeword is intended to encompass anyseries of characters or symbols, such as any series of numbers and/orletters, whether represented in alphanumeric format or amachine-readable (e.g., barcode) format. The codeword is,illustratively, associated with the original prepaid services accountidentifier. As such, the codeword may be cryptographically related tothe original account identifier or, alternatively, may be associated ina database record with the original account identifier.

One skilled in the art will recognize that different methods can be usedto initiate the replacement service with a replacement service provider.For example, the user who purchased a prepaid services card may berequired to call to activate the card, at which time the user will begiven the option to initiate the replacement service. Alternatively, thecard may be activated at the POS and instructions for initiating thereplacement service can be provided either separately or printed on theprepaid services card. Any offer to initiate a replacement serviceconcurrently or subsequent to the purchase services associated with aprepaid services account identifier is intended to be encompassed by theembodiments disclosed herein. One skilled in the art will also recognizethat the call used to initiate the replacement service does not need tobe a telephone call but may be, for example, an electronic communicationtransmitted over the internet. Finally, one skilled in the art will alsorecognize that the replacement service provider may also be atelecommunications service provide or may be a third party vendoroffering replacement services for a telecommunications vendor or prepaidservices account vendor.

In this way, referring to FIG. 2, subsequent to the initiation of thereplacement service and the issuance of the replacement codeword, if thereplacement service provider receives an indication at step 201 that theuser wishes to utilize the replacement service (e.g., if a prepaidservices card having the original prepaid services account identifier islost), at step 202 the replacement service provider establishes a secondprepaid account identifier and, illustratively, at step 203 deactivatesthe first prepaid account identifier. The user then uses the secondprepaid account identifier to obtain future prepaid services. Therefore,if, for example, a prepaid services card is lost or stolen, thepurchaser of that card can continue to use the prepaid service withoutinterruption until the purchased amount of prepaid services (e.g., aspecific dollar amount of such services) is depleted.

FIG. 3 shows a communication network 300 within which the presentinvention, as illustratively embodied in FIGS. 1 and 2 and theassociated discussion, may be implemented. Network 300 illustrativelycomprises telephone 301 connected to a central office switch (CO) 302via communications link 307 (e.g., a copper pair). CO 302, in turn, isconnected to interexchange carrier switch (IXC) 303 via communicationlink 308. IXC 303 is connected to service platform 305 which is,illustratively, a service platform associated with a prepaid telephoneservice. Service platform 305 may be, for example, a programmablecomputer containing appropriate hardware and software in order toperform the functions described herein. Such platforms, also sometimesreferred to as adjuncts, are well known in the art oftelecommunications. It is also noted here that the functions describedherein may be performed directly by the IXC 303 (which may also includeappropriate hardware and software for performing the functions describedherein) rather than by the service platform 305. One skilled in the artwould recognize that there are various possible configurations thatwould be equally useful in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention. Many of the functions described herein may be performed byhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Referring once again to FIG. 3, service platform 305 is, for example,further connected to a database (DB) 308 which contains records, such asrecords associated with individual subscribers, used in the operation ofservice platform 305. As is well known, communication networks, such asnetwork 300, generally contain a plurality of central office switches,each of which is typically connected to a plurality of telephones. Thearchitecture of a communication network, such as network 100, is wellknown in the art and will not be described in further detail herein.

As discussed above, a user may be presented with an offer to initiate areplacement service. Illustratively, this offer is presented when theplatform receives a call from the user (e.g., the first time the usercontacts the service platform 305). In this case, referring once againto FIG. 3, a user places a call from illustrative telephone 301 and isconnected to the prepaid services platform 305 via CO 302 and IXC 303.The prepaid services platform 305, in turn, presents the offer toinitiate a replacement service to telephone 301 via IXC 303 and CO 302.Upon receiving either an acceptance of the offer or a declination of theoffer, prepaid services platform 305 updates a record associated withthe prepaid services account identifier of the user and stores theupdated record in database 306.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative record of database 306 in accordance withthe principles of the present invention. In that figure, field 401stores the prepaid services account ID that is, for example, a uniqueaccount number, here 123-456-7890, that is issued for a prepaid servicescard. Field 402 is an illustrative replacement service field thatindicates whether or not a user has accepted an offer to initiate areplacement service. Here, illustratively, the Y in field 402 indicatesthat the user has accepted such an offer. Field 403 is a field that isillustratively populated only if field 402 indicates that a replacementservice has been initiated. In this illustrative example, codewordA8CF9RE has been assigned to the user. This assignment may be madeautomatically upon the user accepting an offer to initiate thereplacement service or, alternatively, the user may be prompted tomanually enter a codeword (illustratively, for example, using a keypadon a telephone). Other fields are illustratively present in record 400.For example, field 404 indicates the remaining usage balance (here $40)associated with the prepaid services account identifier. Additionally,illustrative field 405 may contain a PIN for use in initiating a prepaidservice session (e.g., placing a prepaid telephone call). One skilled inthe art will recognize that record 400 is merely illustrative in natureand that additional fields may also be used in area 406 of record 400.

FIG. 5 shows the database record of FIG. 4 wherein the user hasrequested replacement of the original prepaid services accountidentifier. Specifically, when the user wishes to utilize thereplacement service described above (such as when the user has lost aprepaid services card) that user will illustratively contact the prepaidservices platform 305 of FIG. 3. When the user inputs the codeword, itis verified with the codeword stored in field 403 of record 400 in FIG.4. One skilled in the art will recognize that, as previously discussed,the codeword may be cryptographically related to the prepaid servicesaccount identifier and, accordingly, field 403 of record 400 in FIG. 4would not be required. Instead, the prepaid services platform coulddecrypt the codeword when it is received in order to extract the prepaidaccount services identifier of field 401 of FIG. 4. In an alternativeembodiment, the codeword could be the same as the prepaid accountservices identifier. Referring again to FIG. 5, regardless theverification method used, when the codeword entered by the user isverified, the replacement service provider then issues a new prepaidservice account identifier and, illustratively, stores this replacementidentifier, here 098-765-4321, in record 500, for example in field 501.One skilled in the art will recognize that there are many possibleimplementations of storing this new prepaid service account identifier.For example, instead of storing the new account identifier directly infield 501 and, thus, replacing the original prepaid service accountidentifier, it may be desired to store both the original and newidentifiers. Accordingly, separate fields in record 500 may be assignedfor both the original and new identifiers.

One skilled in the art will also recognize that various otherimplementations are possible in conjunction with the replacement servicedescribed herein above. For example, as discussed previously, thereplacement service provider may charge a fee for initiating thereplacement service plan. In such an implementation, such a fee can bepaid as part of the card purchase or, illustratively, can be paid as anadditional, insurance-type service upon payment of an incremental fee.In such circumstances, the incremental fee may be paid by decrementingpart of the cash balance associated with the account or, alternatively,may be paid, for example, as a higher transaction fee for utilizing theprepaid services (e.g., as a higher per-minute charge for telephonecalls).

Other arrangements will also be obvious to those skilled in the art. Forexample, while the principles of the present invention are discussedherein in association with the purchase of a prepaid services card, sucha card need not be purchased. For example, the prepaid services accountnumber and any other information (such as replacement codeword and/orPIN) may be provided via other means. Specifically, in one suchimplementation, the information may be provided on another instrument,such as media adapted to store digital data. Such media include, withoutlimitation, a storage card, smart card, or magnetic media storage disc.Alternatively, the account may not have any associated instrument. Insuch embodiments the purchaser could be given the account identifier andany other information such as an access number or internet address byother means, such as for example over the Internet. Finally, it will beobvious to one skilled in the art that any method of communication,including wireless communications may be used in conjunction withprinciples of the present invention.

The foregoing Detailed Description is to be understood as being in everyrespect illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and the scopeof the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from theDetailed Description, but rather from the claims as interpretedaccording to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws. It is to beunderstood that the embodiments shown and described herein are onlyillustrative of the principles of the present invention and that variousmodifications may be implemented by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention. Those skilled inthe art could implement various other feature combinations withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention.

1. A method for providing a telecommunication service comprising:receiving a call indicating a desire to replace a first prepaid servicesaccount identifier; establishing a second prepaid services accountidentifier, associated with the first prepaid services accountidentifier, upon receiving, via the call, a user defined codewordrelated to the first prepaid services account identifier; and charging afee to establish the second prepaid services account identifier, whereinthe fee is collected by increasing a cost associated with the secondprepaid services account identifier.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising deactivating the first prepaid services account identifier inresponse to receiving the user defined codeword.
 3. The method of claim1 wherein the fee is deducted from an account balance associated withthe second prepaid services account identifier.
 4. The method of claim 1wherein the call is a telephone call.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereinthe call is a communication received via a data network.
 6. Apparatuscomprising: means for receiving a call indicating a desire to replace afirst prepaid services account identifier; means for establishing asecond prepaid services account identifier, associated with the firstprepaid services account identifier, upon receiving, via the call, auser defined codeword related to the first prepaid services accountidentifier; and means for charging a fee to establish the second prepaidservices account identifier, wherein the fee is collected by increasinga cost associated with the second prepaid services account identifier.7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising means for deactivatingthe first prepaid services account identifier in response to receivingthe user defined codeword.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the feeis deducted from an account balance associated with the first prepaidservices account identifier.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein thecall is a telephone call.
 10. The method of claim 6 wherein the call isa communication received via a data network.
 11. A computer readablemedium having computer executable instructions stored thereon, thecomputer executable instructions defining: receiving a call indicating adesire to replace a first prepaid services account identifier;establishing a second prepaid services account identifier, associatedwith the first prepaid services account identifier, upon receiving, viathe call, a user defined codeword related to the first prepaid servicesaccount identifier; and charging a fee to establish the second prepaidservices account identifier, wherein the fee is collected by increasinga cost associated with the second prepaid services account identifier.12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 having computer executableinstructions stored thereon, the computer executable instructionsfurther defining deactivating the first prepaid services accountidentifier in response to receiving the user defined codeword.
 13. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 11 wherein the fee is deducted from anaccount balance associated with the second prepaid services accountidentifier.
 14. The computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein thecall is a telephone call.
 15. The computer readable medium of claim 11wherein the call is a communication received via a data network.